With him around, there was nothing to be afraid of.
“You’ve already tied me up, but what about you?” Stella Grace asked worriedly.
“I’ll be fine. If the wooden boards capsize, I’ll have to make sure I turn them over immediately.” Jasper Milton said thoughtfully.
“If the wind and waves are too strong, you won’t be able to swim as fast as the waves.” Stella was worried. Jasper did not have a plank, so he would die no matter how long he could hold his breath.
“I’ll tie a long rope on my hand so that I won’t fall into the sea.” Jasper comforted her when he saw the worry in Stella’s eyes.
“WIll it be tight enough?”
Jasper smiled slightly. “I will be using military buttons, so if the wind and waves get stronger, it will become stronger as well.”
“How about the rope? Is it strong enough?”
“These are all used by fishermen, so they’re very sturdy. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Jasper said firmly.
“Then… please hold my hand. No matter how big the storm is going to be, at least we will be together.”
Jasper liked what she said. No matter how big the storm was going to be, they would be together.
The heavy rain came a little later than she had expected. What came first was the sea breeze, which was also stronger than she had expected.
She held Jasper’s hand tightly, while Jasper held the pot tightly with his other hand.
“Don’t worry about the pots. It’s dangerous for you to do this,” she pleaded, voice brimming with concern.
“We don’t have enough water. The pot of water could sustain us for the few days. You don’t want to drink that either, do you?” Jasper insisted.
“Apart from your safety, I don’t care about anything else.” Stella confessed.
“That is exactly why I have to make sure we’re both safe. I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.” Jasper promised.
They floated on the waves for the next half an hour before it started raining heavily.
“Stella, stick close to the wooden board and don’t move.” Jasper reminded her again.
Stella clung to the wooden board tightly with one hand tightly grasping the wooden board. She closed her eyes and held Jasper tightly with her other hand.
The rain pattered on her body. It was so heavy that her hair was completely soaked.
Jasper let go of her hand.
Stella was shocked as she saw Jasper squatting in a certain position to pour water in the pot.
Stella was afraid that he would be blown away by the wind and waves, so she held his arm tightly.
Jasper quickly filled the bottle with mineral water and put it into the net bag.
A strong gust of wind blew over.
He had successfully poured the water into the pot and put the pot lid on Stella’s head before lying down immediately.
The wooden board was pushed to a very high height by the waves. When it suddenly came down, the splashing seawater hit their body and it was very painful.
She still had clothes to protect her from the impact. However, Jasper had given his clothes to her. It must hurt a lot.
At this moment, words of concern were stuck in her throat.
She couldn’t protect him. The only thing she could do was not becoming a burden to him.
The wooden board passed through several peaks and came down again.
She was really worried that the wooden board would fall apart, but fortunately, her worries were for naught.
She ended up passing out several times, and struggled to come back to reality each time.
The heavy rain lasted for more than three hours. When the wind and waves calmed down, Jasper took some more water from the pot.
“What time is it?” Stella asked. She had already exhausted her stamina.
Jasper looked at his watch. “It’s 1:45 p. m. The rain has passed, and the wind and waves won’t come again that quickly. You can go to sleep first. I’ll keep watch.”
Stella had a lot of things to say, but exhaustion eventually overwhelmed her and she ended up fainting.
She didn’t know how much time had passed. She opened her eyes when she heard the crisp sound of a seagull.
Jasper was sitting on the wooden board and looked at the flying seagulls thoughtfully.
Stella sat up and asked, “If there are seagulls, doesn’t that mean that there are islands, beaches, reefs or ports nearby?”
“The possibility of a port nearby is small, but there should be an island or a reef.” Jasper analyzed and looked around.
“Thank goodness. It would be nice if we could find an island,” Stella muttered to herself.
The heavy rain had completely worn her out. If another storm came with the ferocious wind and the waves, they would certainly not be able to survive through it.
Jasper analyzed the direction of the seagull’s flight. “We’ll definitely miss the island if we follow the wind.”
He immediately pulled the umbrella out and faced it against the wind at a 45 degree angle.
Stella didn’t understand these things, but she helped him hold the handle of the parasol.
“Do you want to rest for a while?” Stella was worried that he would lose all of his stamina.
Jasper shook her head. “If everything goes according to plan, we may be able to reach the island in an hour. We will have to go through the most dangerous part before we could reach the island. Apart from the waves, there could be undercurrents near the beach too. If we don’t get to a beach, there may be a cliff waiting for us. We can’t ascend it, and it will be fatal.”
It was her first time drifting on the sea, so she could only trust Jasper’s words.
After sailing for more than half an hour, Stella finally saw an island in the distance. She said excitedly, “Jasper, look, there is an island. It doesn’t look small.”
“Have you ever heard of the disappearing kingdom?” Jasper asked.
Stella was puzzled. What would he say that at this moment?
“Long ago, there was a country with rich natural resources and medicinal materials. However, one day, the sea level rose up to hundreds of meters, submerging the island. The people on the island were all killed. A century later, the island rose up once again, but by then it was already uninhabited. After that, the island would submerge itself and reemerge from the waves once every hundred years.”
“Do you mean that the island in front of us is the kingdom that disappeared?” Stella was shocked.
He shrugged at her. “I’m just telling you this story. We’ll find out whether the island is submerged or not as soon as we get to the island.”
Jasper adjusted the angle of the parasol as they approached the island.
“Stella, we should reach in about ten minutes. The beach of the island may be fake and may collapse. Don’t get off the wood board,” Jasper ordered.
“What about you?” Stella asked worriedly.
Jasper lowered her chin and looked at the parasol. “I don’t want to get out of the wooden board either. I’ll just use this umbrella.”
“What do I need to do?”
“This.” Jasper gathered all the things hanging under the wooden board, put them on the wooden board, and tied them together. “Keep an eye on these things.”
“Alright.”
When he got close to the beach, he felt that the waves were a little bigger than when he was in the calm sea.
When the last wave pushed the wooden board to the beach, Jasper used the force of the umbrella to close the rest of the distance between the board and the sand.
Stella saw many crabs running around.
“Crabs. Can these crabs be eaten?” Stella was surprised.
“Of course, but we’d better build a house on the top as soon as possible.” Jasper said seriously and added, “There’s lots of wolf faeces on the ground. The good news is that the island won’t be silent, but the bad news is that there are wolves in the island.”
Stella’s relaxed mood became tense again.
Wolves moved in packs. Even if Jasper had three heads and six arms, he would still be torn apart quickly.